Travis Okulski

Earlier we saw that the Pagani Huayramay have used different tires for its Top Gear test that helped it run an ultra-fast lap time. After exchanging emails with Pagani all morning, they finally admitted they did use two sets of tires and they "reported Pirelli Pzero Corsa on our press release because we want, for communication reasons, to push them on the media."

The photos we saw earlier provided evidence that appeared to show Pagani was using two very different sets of tires for its Top Gear test earlier this season. One set appeared to be the standard Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tires that we've seen on every Huayra. The others appeared to be modified versions of the slicks that appear on the Pagani Zonda R.

I asked Pagani two questions:

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1 - If Corsas were used, as the press release says (http://www.pagani.com/en/news/2013/p...), why did the car on Top Gear have no P-Zero Corsa branding on the tires and a different tread pattern to the specially developed Corsas?

2 - Below it says that the P-Zero Trofeo was used for the run. If you did use Trofeos for the lap, why does the press release say that Corsas were used? Also, are the Trofeos developed for the Huayra based on or similar to the slicks that the Zonda R used?

Per Luca Venturi, Pagani's press officer, both were used for the Top Gear test:

1. We used both during the shooting at TopGear Test track. We reported Pirelli Pzero Corsa on our press release because we want, for communication reasons, to push them on the media.

2. All Pirelli tyres for the Huayra have been developed from the Zonda R (keep in mind both cars the Huayra and the Zonda R share basically the same suspension with the Zonda R being the development test platform for suspension, brakes and tyres of the Huayra). Pagani released statements about this in the past.

Another journalist that has had experience with the same car told me this:

Those tires are hand-cut Zonda R tyres and the evidence is really clear all around. Hammond definitely drove on the normal PZero road tyres also used in the press release photos, like any journalist. You can easily see it in the video Jalopnik posted at 7:36 when the camera does a fly-over. They later replaced the tyres for the Zonda R tyres, which had to be pre-cut by Pirelli with just one purpose “set a fast lap time”. There is simply no other reasonable stories behind it. I also had a go in the Huayra together with the test driver and when we drove it, it definitely had the PZero road tyres fitted. Similar to Hammond’s, and any other journalist reviewing it. Perhaps it was not so smart to swap tyres, because the major difference in lap time between the Ariel Atom V8 and the Huayra proved to be rather suspicious. All they have to do now is come up with a proper response, not one we easily shoot holes in.

So, these are the "Corsa" tires:

And these are the modified Zonda R, or "Trofeo," tires:

And there you have it. Pagani said they used the Corsa tires since that is what they wanted to push to the media. The P-Zero "Trofeo" used on the Huayra is a modified version of the slick used on the Zonda R. That explains the nomenclature, branding, tread pattern, and wear indicators.

Pagani told me the tires are street legal, but you don't want to use them in heavy rain. That means they're super close to the edge of legality.